The Isthmus of Corinth has played a very important role in the history of
Greece. It is the only land bridge between the country's north (Attica)
and south (Peloponnese). It is a 6 km wide tongue of land separating the
Gulf of Corinth from the Saronic Sea. Populations, armies and commodities
have got to move through it. In the 6th century BCE, the Greeks built the
Diolkos, a 10 meter-wide stone roadway to pull ships across the Isthmus on
wooden cylinders and wheeled vehicles. In 1882, a canal was started and
completed 11 years later. It is 6343 meters long, 25 meters wide, and 8
meters deep.
With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared
wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters
(about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing
surface of our planet.
ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18,
1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team
is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the
data products.
The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides
scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface
mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example
applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring
potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud
morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution
monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils
and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.
The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission
Directorate.
Size: 25.3 by 37.7 kilometers (15.7 by 23.4 miles)
Location: 37.9 degrees North latitude, 23 degrees East longitude
Orientation: North at top
Image Data: ASTER bands 3, 2, and 1
Original Data Resolution: 15 meters (49.2 feet)
Dates Acquired: May 9, 2005